new material based on wood

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Hiljoball
Posts: 283
Joined: 06 Jan 2006, 00:47
Sail number: CAN 307
Club: West Coast Radio Sailing
Design: V8
Location: CAN
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new material based on wood

Post by Hiljoball » 29 Aug 2012, 20:47

Read this in Sailing Anarchy. As it is based on wood, would it be class legal for building hulls? It looks like it can be spun and made into cloth for layup.

ncc-2012

Every few years, we get all excited for a new wonder product that could replace the uber-expensive, petro-based, ultra-gnarly carbon-fiber that is absolutely essential to today’s high-performance racing craft (and airplanes, and race cars, and just about anything else that requires very high strength and low weight). And every few years, we’re disappointed when reality interferes with our desire to see something a little kinder to the environment than high-tech’s ‘black gold.’

Well, it’s that time again, and while we haven’t seen any boats built yet out of NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC), there’s clearly enough potential for further study of this material; it comes from cheap, abundant, renewable wood pulp, its got plenty of strength, its natural color is transparent and can be made any color at all, and it can be spun into fibers that might just take the place of carbon. Already a Canadian company is pushing the stuff out the door, while the US Forest Service just invested a pile of money into developing it as well.

And there’s already a nice little video about it. Keep your eyes on this stuff, and thanks to Ohf Shore for the heads up in the forum.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... -iron.html

http://www.celluforce.com/en/product_applications.php

http://vimeo.com/29961704

08/29/12
John Ball
CRYA #895
IOM CAN 307 V8
In my private capacity

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